I keep saying that Max Blumenthal’s book is important, and a signal moment in the US discourse on the conflict, and here’s more evidence. The rightwing continues to deploy the politics of personal destruction to try and stop this book. The neoconservative Washington Free Beacon seeks to trash the Clintons as anti-Israel by publicizing the fact that Sidney Blumenthal gave a book party for his son Max, for the publication of the book.
Top Clinton confidante Sidney Blumenthal hosted a book party in October promoting Goliath, an anti-Zionist book that draws equivalence between Israel and Nazi Germany and was written by his son Max Blumenthal…
The news [that Sidney Blumenthal is supporting his son’s book] prompted a rebuke from Alan Dershowitz, a pro-Israel Democrat and Clinton ally, who called on the elder Blumenthal to distance himself from his son’s views.
“In light of the long association between the Clintons and Sid Blumenthal, I hope that the Clintons ask Sid to expressly dissociate himself from his son’s views—and if he refuses to, that they no longer work with him on any matters,” Dershowitz told Breitbart’s Joel Pollak.
This is crazy for a couple of reasons. What proud father doesn’t support his son after the labor of four years? Hat’s off to Sidney. And as for the Clintons, I only wish the linkage the Free Beacon is trying to establish were true. But the Clintons adore Israel and will continue to do so so long as there’s a library to heat and a presidential campaign to boil.
It turns out that the author of the Free Beacon attack, Alana Goodman, is a true partisan ideologue. She wrote this in 2008 in her college paper, praising George W. Bush and Meir Kahane.
But in certain circles, Bush will be deeply missed. In the past 60 years, no U.S. president has been a better friend to Israel. And for a country so desperately in need of friends, his assistance has been invaluable.
I had the honor of seeing Bush speak last February in Washington, D.C. As he approached the microphone – this man who had once famously thrown away Yasser Arafat’s phone number – I felt a wave of sheer gratitude. In Judaism, we have a term for people like Bush. We call them “Chassidey Umot Haolam” – “Righteous Gentiles” – and I’m proud to live in a country being led by one.
The piece compares the second intifada to the Holocaust, then praises rightwing racist Kahane:
The world has negotiated, denounced and condemned for too long. After a while, words lose their meaning unless they are backed up with swift and decisive action.
To borrow a phrase from Rabbi Meir Kahane, “One does not deal with terrorists; one does not bargain with terrorists; one kills terrorists.”
I’m grateful to have a leader who understands this. Bush will be truly missed.
The heat around Blumenthal’s book reminds us, this is a book that the rightwing doesn’t want you to read. When will the liberal mainstream get on the story– and look not at who Blumenthal’s father is but what he’s saying? His book is substantive and crushing. Deal with it.
As we noted last week, Buzzfeed, a site friendly to neocons, undertook the same dirty work as the Free Beacon, seeking to tie the Clintons to critics of Israel by way of Sidney Blumenthal. The author of that piece, Rosie Gray, continues to attack Max Blumenthal– this time citing a favorable review of his book by Gilad Atzmon. Ali Gharib is among several journalists who’ve pointed out that Blumenthal has nothing to do with Atzmon, and that Gray’s tweet is a low blow.
@RosieGray This is pitiful. U realize @MaxBlumenthal has repeatedly & harshly criticized him? http://t.co/8BeQJMyIkn http://t.co/BaEykJZnxt — Ali Gharib (@Ali_Gharib) November 14, 2013
I’d add that the same smear campaign was launched against Walt and Mearsheimer in 2007, because David Duke had praised their work; and that Tony Judt denounced the smear at Cooper Union, quoting Arthur Koestler to the effect that the fact that fascists praise an argument of yours doesn’t make you a fascist.
Update: All this pushback might be spurring sales for Goliath. We intercepted some fun, encouraging tweets yesterday. Take a look at this:
.@MaxBlumenthal‘s Goliath is back on top of Amazon’s Israel History books, see-saw battle with YKH’s Like Dreamers pic.twitter.com/1yGY3LdWNE
— Ali Gharib (@Ali_Gharib) November 14, 2013
Just checked, it’s still #1 on Amazon’s Best Sellers Israel History. And one of Ali Gharib’s responders:
@Ali_Gharib @MaxBlumenthal also #2 in Middle East Politics section pic.twitter.com/AAUdTdO6JS
— Joseph (@VeganJosephinSD) November 14, 2013
I wrote about this last weekend, at firedoglake. Rosie just won’t let go, will she?
http://my.firedoglake.com/edwardteller/2013/11/10/attacks-on-max-blumenthals-goliath-escalate-veer-into-wingnut-land/
May article goes into other nutty responses to Goliath.
Getting ready for the long, icy drive to work, I’m listening to Max live on KGNU radio in Denver (or Boulder?):
http://stream.kgnu.net:8000/KGNU_live_med.mp3.m3u
Good interchange, with a host more knowledgeable on the issues Max addresses than most. Right now, Max talking about AIPAC and Zionist pushes for scuttling Iran talks, or worse. And – guess what? – Rosie is there, in on the push:
http://www.buzzfeed.com/rosiegray/republican-senators-slam-administrations-briefing-on-iran
British Society regarded it a badge of honor to be insulted by Oscar Wilde.This helped his career enormously.
Dershowits condemning Max,s book may well have the same effect.However , I doubt that the media hack Dersh has that intention.
Keep whining Dersh.
“In light of the long association between the Clintons and Sid Blumenthal, I hope that the Clintons ask Sid to expressly dissociate himself from his son’s views—and if he refuses to, that they no longer work with him on any matters,” Dershowitz told Breitbart’s Joel Pollak.
– and they say republicans eat their own.
RE: “In Judaism, we have a term for people like Bush. We call them ‘Chassidey Umot Haolam’ – ‘Righteous Gentiles’ – and I’m proud to live in a country being led by one.” ~ Alana Goodman
MY COMMENT: If Ms Goodman was truly thankful for George Bush’s support for Israel, she would ‘see the light’ and accept Jesus Christ as her Lord and Savior so that Bush and his fellow fundie cult followers could have their precious Rapture!
SEE: “George Bush set to speak to Christian End-Times group that calls for conversion of Jews”, by Kenneth Derstine, Mondoweiss, 11/13/12
LINK – https://mondoweiss.mystagingwebsite.com/2013/11/george-christian-conversion.html
It seems to me that Dershowitz’s remark was a thinly-veiled threat directed at Hillary to jettison Sid B or risk the loss of his support. One might casually dismiss such a threat as the usual bloviation, but my hunch is that he might succeed. I would not be surprised if Sid and the Clintons parted ways amicably. Dersh’s threats over MJ Rosenberg and Media Matters did lead to his departure.
Of course, Dershowitz’s hypocrisy here is enormous. Max is now so treif that the Clintons better be wary of associating with someone who associates with him. Dershowitz, on the other hand, is free to commit sins worse than those he falsely accuses Max of committing. Par for the course.